


try to earn what lovers own

by stophit



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Thieves, Cruise Ships, M/M, Marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:33:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26355034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stophit/pseuds/stophit
Summary: It's not a proper honeymoon for him and Soonyoung without a successful robbery. Jeonghan is committed to that principle, even when the rich guy they're planning to steal from isn't so rich anymore and Soonyoung is always about two seconds from throwing up because of his seasickness.
Relationships: Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Hong Jisoo | Joshua, Kim Mingyu/Xu Ming Hao | The8, Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi/Yoon Jeonghan
Comments: 13
Kudos: 57





	try to earn what lovers own

**Author's Note:**

  * For [joongki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/joongki/gifts).



> Alternate title: _love him and he'll bring you luck_  
>  Happy soonhan newlyweds for you!

For someone with a net worth of 2.3 billion, Kim Mingyu sure does look like a sucker. Soonyoung really hit the gold scouting this guy out. Jeonghan tries his best to pass off his elation at the prospect of a lucrative heist as genuine sappy love like the rest of the couples on this newlywed cruise.

The guy’s basically like if a puppy hijacked an incredibly attractive human and learned how to speak Korean. He’s unintentionally expressive, is a total philanthropist, and looks like he’s never had a coherent thought in his life before his husband. And he’s dressed in all denim. Denim jeans, denim jacket, and he’s surprised that the shirt itself isn’t denim—and Soonyoung had furiously whispered to him, _Don’t his nipples chafe in that?_

It would’ve been like stealing candy from a baby. It _should’ve_ been. Except for the fact that Kim Mingyu _already willingly_ gave his candy to babies.

In the middle of Group S’s icebreakers, Kim Mingyu says, “I ended up donating most of my liquidated assets to charity. Minghao and I only have enough for a comfortable life now.”

As everyone coos and awws, Jeonghan nearly breaks Soonyoung’s hand in his trying to contain his anger. _Comfortable_ is one way to describe the way they’re still dressed—he might just swipe the Rolex off Kim Mingyu’s wrist just out of spite, but he and Soonyoung are going to have to find a new target. Otherwise, they’re coming out of this cruise with a relative loss.

Soonyoung leans in and whispers, “Sorry, Hannie. I think this is the first time he’s actually mentioned this plan to anyone. None of my sources had it.”

He loosens his grip on Soonyoung’s hand, realizing how hard he’s been gripping. “I don’t blame you,” he whispers back, “but we’re about to have to pay a lot more attention to everyone else here.”

As they’re whispering, Minghao speaks up, eyes trained straight on them. “You two whispering over there. Is there a problem?”

“Hao,” Mingyu says, nudging him. His husband really _is_ the one that holds the brain cells between them.

Jeonghan’s usually fast on his feet, but in social situations, Soonyoung’s faster. “Sorry,” he says in a quiet, somber voice. Jeonghan turns his head and puts an arm around him, hiding his own face from the room as Soonyoung invokes the waterworks. Jeonghan thinks it’s over the top, but it’s a group full of suckers. “That last charity you mentioned—it really helped my husband when he was younger, and…”

“Soonyoung,” Jeonghan says, nudging him. “Don’t go embarrassing me in front of people we just met.” If that’s the story they’re going with, then he knows how to play that up.

He’s seen this next expression on Soonyoung’s face more often than not. He used to make it in genuine moments of confusion, but ever since Jeonghan pointed it out, he’s weaponized it with a scary amount of efficiency. He looks up with a dazed and confused look, almost innocent. “Sorry. That wasn’t even _my_ business to tell everyone.”

It’s that blind honesty that makes Soonyoung better than him at not only scoping out targets, but tricking them into letting their guard down. Meanwhile, he lets Jeonghan formulate all their plans, keeping them on track, and wiggling them out of situations.

Jeonghan lets out a light laugh and pokes him in the forehead, turning back to Mingyu and Minghao with an expression that he hopes comes off as long-suffering and fond. (It’s not hard when he doesn’t have to fake it.) “It’s like the first thing he wants to do every time we meet someone new is expose my whole business. But really, thank you for what you’ve done.”

He bows low enough to know exactly what guys like Mingyu will do—laugh awkwardly and shake it off, telling Jeonghan to stop. “I benefited from it too. It’s nothing big. Don’t bow like that.”

Perfect. Jeonghan sits up and tries to relax a little more, looking less tense and holding Soonyoung’s hand more comfortably. With the way Minghao relaxes his glare, it’s worked for now—they’ve successfully passed off the nervousness as being related to this conversation.

They both make a quiet note of the other couples in their cohort. There are fifty-two couples on the cruise, and their activities have more or less been split into groups of four pairs based on some survey during the ticketing and some randomness.

The first: Jeonghan and Soonyoung. The second: Minghao and Mingyu, whose suites Jeonghan might still poke around in later and swipe a few expensive-looking watches and jewelry, but nothing near the haul they expected. The third: Seungkwan and Hansol, who are barely younger than anyone else on the cruise ship but seem greener behind the ears than everyone, with a sort of innocent naivety that makes Jeonghan want to show them how things work in the real world (by making them his target, yes). It seems decided until the fourth couple shows up, fashionably late.

Most couples on this cruise seem affluent, but not so famous that they’d cause a stir among the general public. These two, however. On the higher end of the social ladder are Joshua and Seungcheol, who walk into their little icebreaker group and greet everyone with smiles like Joshua isn’t a semi-famous figure in the world of music that didn’t stir the pot by marrying _Seungcheol_ , a literal nobody.

“Hi, everyone—is he okay?” Choi Seungcheol says, pausing as he sits in an empty chair and tilting his head at Soonyoung.

Jeonghan turns to Soonyoung to make some snide comment about them, but—Soonyoung’s not acting anymore. He looks pale, the blood drained from his face. “Are you okay?” he asks, dropping all pretense.

Soonyoung shakes his head and then seems to regret it.

“Okay, hold on.” He keeps his voice steady as he stands, putting his arm around his waist and keeping him from swaying. “Ah, causing problems again,” he scolds as fondly as he can, and Soonyoung chuckles. “He said he could handle the seasickness, but…”

“I’ve got some natural remedies for that,” Seungkwan says with more genuine emotion than he’s ever heard from _anyone_ except for maybe their own parents. And he attached it to some multilevel marketing bullshit. Just for that, Jeonghan’s going to swipe something from him to make a point.

“It’ll be all right, we planned for this. Thanks for the offer, though.”

“And we’ll see you around,” Soonyoung tacks onto the end, always friendly.

* * *

They met in college, living in the same house with mutual friends before moving in together because they got along better than expected. Soonyoung was more or less on a path of his own—a boring, doomed one, until he caught Jeonghan late at night after a heist.

Instead of reporting Jeonghan to any sort of law enforcement, Soonyoung had said, _I won’t say anything as long as you let me join_. Jeonghan was apprehensive at first, because bright and quick on the draw Soonyoung was not—but he was better at scoping out potential targets than Jeonghan ever was, who tended to look down at anyone and everyone when possible.

Jeonghan had the brains of the operation, and Soonyoung had the heart. And Jeonghan’s heart, incidentally. Falling together became an inevitability, like a part of living and breathing that needed no explanation to each other but apparently needed a _lot_ of explanation for everyone else around them.

They just work well together. Like now: Soonyoung flops onto the bed in their suite, and before Jeonghan closes the curtains even halfway, he’s already said a name to replace Kim Mingyu and his nonexistent two-point-three-billion-net-worth.

Just as Jeonghan doesn’t question his own intuition, he doesn’t second-guess Soonyoung’s for people—but he always asks, just to be sure. “Choi Seungcheol?” Jeonghan confirms.

He sits beside where Soonyoung’s holding back from vomiting for dear life, and he absentmindedly cards his fingers through Soonyoung’s hair. Soonyoung nods.

“I know he looks like a sucker and his husband like a total pillow princess, but does that equate to _that_ much wealth?”

“Only insanely rich dudes dress that badly,” he croaks out. “You saw Kim Mingyu.”

Jeonghan doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to unsee Kim Mingyu’s three-piece denim outfit, but when he pushes that out of his mind briefly, he suddenly remembers Joshua’s weird, way-too-baggy print shirt—and _then_ he remembers Seungcheol’s complete failure to adhere to any sort of color theory. “Fuck, you’re right.”

Soonyoung sucks in a deep breath. “You said so yourself, they’ll always”—he dry heaves. Jeonghan finds a glass of water for him—“reveal themselves, whether they know it or not.”

It’s true. He tries to breathe, to steady this unnatural impatience thrumming through his body. He attributes his anxiety to steal _anything_ to the fact that Soonyoung suggested the cruise ship himself, found Kim Mingyu, and insisted to do this heist, even though Jeonghan _knew_ he’d get sick like this. The sooner they can make this worth their while, the better. Not much of a honeymoon if this is the first of their heists to ever fail.

* * *

Soonyoung was a country boy, born and raised; his time in college and his subsequent life with Jeonghan made him accustomed to the city, but he’s still delightfully _country boy_ in a lot of situations—like now, when he gets to travel and see something between the countryside and the skyscrapers. When they dock at Jeju Island’s port, Seungkwan leads the way for Group S.

Soonyoung nudges Jeonghan and says, “You were keeping this a surprise, weren’t you?”

“Not really,” he says, a bit confused. “You were the one that suggested this cruise. Didn’t you look at the itinerary?”

“Nope! Where’s the fun in that?”

With Mingyu and Minghao out of the picture, and Seungcheol and Joshua a seemingly easy target, Soonyoung’s already let his guard down. Jeonghan would be lying if he didn’t say he secretly scheduled some time for them to rest now that they’ve got less work on their plate—or at least _tried_ to, because the more free time he tried to plan for Soonyoung, the more he ended up trying to double down on this heist alone.

He can’t fully rest until they’ve pulled this off.

Jeonghan didn’t call them _heists_ until Soonyoung did for the dramatics. Before Soonyoung, he was contained. He didn’t need to give it a name, because he himself knew what he was doing. He didn’t need to overcomplicate it. But sharing it with someone else doubled everything: the payouts, the risks, the excitement.

They worked surprisingly well together, pulling in more profits than Dark Side of the Moon Antiques could handle at times—the pawn shop started having to double down on their own cover in order to keep the whole operation going. Then, Dark Side started _giving_ Jeonghan and Soonyoung information, technology, whatever, and that was the point it turned from a hobby to a real business.

Soonyoung joked that they were three replica Fabergé eggs away from getting the kind of technology to scale the outside of the luxury apartments they wanted to steal from. At the time, he mimed cutting holes into windows a million miles from the ground, and Jeonghan nudged him. It’d be fun, but he’d rather have them both in one piece.

Despite how quickly everything escalated, being by each other’s sides remained a blissful constant. They got married for shits and giggles, really. A modest venue with their friends and family out in the village Soonyoung grew up in, in the springtime before it got too balmy. Just for fun, they went and invited the connection over at Dark Side that got them started on a higher level of crime to begin with; they were good at making up cover stories and told Eissa that in their invitation, but they never got an answer. Jeonghan’s still waiting for that one to bite him in the ass. They still don’t know Eissa’s real name, and they now had access to Soonyoung’s _and_ Jeonghan’s, but Soonyoung insisted it was _fine_.

Soonyoung did get the last laugh on that one. The first heist after their wedding, Eissa gave them a little extra in compensation, calling it a wedding present and giving sincere apologies that they couldn’t make it. They’d given the two of them a pair of matching anklets with reassurance that they were actually custom-made, _not_ stolen and refurbished.

Their honeymoon came a month later. They joked about their honeymoon being a great excuse to fling themselves into somewhere between South Korea’s C-list and B-list rich elites and still come out with a reward for themselves, since they had enough money to fake their way through something like this cruise without sticking out too much. In this strange in-between, it was hard to tell whether their money was legitimate or not, and Jeonghan found that the higher they got, the less real anyone’s “work” was. As far as he’s concerned, he’s cutting out about a thousand middlemen and stealing straight from the people who deserve it.

But here on Jeju Island, where Group S is surprisingly honest about their flow of money compared to the other groups mingling on this cruise, Soonyoung lets his guard down around them. Jeonghan suddenly has to reconsider a few things with his display of vulnerability.

Soonyoung puts another coin in the tower viewer and peeks through, gasping at the island’s expanse. Beside him, Jeonghan does his best to keep up with Seungcheol and Mingyu’s chatter, but he catches a glimpse of the thin, unassuming, almost fragile golden ring on Soonyoung’s left ring finger.

He considers that there _are_ things in the world that are worth protecting with his life. Things he would scale a hundred-story building to get back if necessary.

* * *

They learn a little about Seungcheol and Joshua between enjoying their time on Jeju Island, because that’s as much part of the itinerary as it is stealing shit from people. It’s not a proper celebration of his and Soonyoung’s marriage without a little bit of both.

The best part is that where one goes, the other follows; Seungcheol and Joshua are always together, which means that their possessions would be unguarded for long stretches of time.

“So it’s easy,” Soonyoung says, a drink in each hand. Jeju’s beaches are just as fantastic as everything Jeonghan’s ever heard; their stretch of beach is surprisingly empty, but such is the life of rich people gating off public property with enough money and asking everyone to RSVP. The fireworks show will start as soon as the sun sets, and it’s getting close. “We wait for the next time we touch down, we leave late because I got seasick—”

“I make an alibi by saying I’m bringing breakfast to you before we head out—”

“Yeah, you do that, we swipe some shit, then we relax the rest of the cruise.” Soonyoung grins at him. His cheeks are rosy, and Jeonghan resists the urge to laugh. A glance over at the bar reveals Seungkwan chatting with someone he must know _again_ _._ Soonyoung must’ve been convinced into drinking a bit more than he should.

Soonyoung sighs as he suddenly sits down, claiming the space between Jeonghan’s legs. Both of them spill their drinks a little bit, but despite the cloying heat of Jeju’s summer, it’s comfortable. “Or”—Jeonghan murmurs into his ear—“we could keep going with the plan.”

No one’s too close to them yet, but the couples from the cruise are coming out onto the top deck of the ship or slowly trickling onto the beach for the fireworks show, so they need to start keeping their voice down. “Look at all these suckers.”

“Mhm.” Soonyoung nods. “ _Or_ … we could _relax_ the rest of the cruise.”

Jeonghan takes a sip of his drink as the sea swallows the sun whole. “Only if Seungcheol stops making himself an easy target,” he whispers, and Soonyoung’s laugh is brighter than the fireworks.

* * *

They leave Jeju the next day. Jeonghan is equal parts antsy and relaxed, which Soonyoung says makes no sense. Technically, he’s right, but Soonyoung understands what he means despite that.

It’s a great system. Jeonghan knows how to interpret what the hell comes out of Soonyoung’s mouth, and Soonyoung knows what Jeonghan’s plans are when they seem stuck in his mind. Their friends say they’ve been in the honeymoon phase for the entire time they’ve known each other, disgustingly cute as both a joke and when they don’t even realize. Jeonghan called it a partnership at first, a convenient roommate situation, and then he let it slip _once_ to Soonyoung that when it came down to it, Jeonghan didn’t think he had anyone in the world except for him. That he was like family.

The plague of attachment, of affection, of the L-word—it should’ve been inconvenient. Instead, it got him on a cruise surrounded by other upper-middle class vacationing couples that brought all their precious items to Jeonghan and Soonyoung to steal.

It’s a bit inconvenient in the sense that he’d rather stay behind in their suite and make sure Soonyoung’s okay, since the seasickness is really _not_ a fake cover, but Soonyoung waves him off and tells him to keep going with the plan. He sounds a bit petulant about it, enough to make Jeonghan hesitate, but that’s still a go-ahead if he ever heard one.

When he steps outside their cabin suite, he takes a deep breath.

That’s the other thing. Soonyoung’s the one that’s good at charming people, and the fact that Jeonghan was amused enough by him to marry him is the greatest testament to that. Alone, Jeonghan _can_ still worm his way into people’s hearts, but he’s best in dealing with slimeballs and people that put up as much of a front as he does. When everyone’s suspicious, no one’s suspicious. Here, especially without Soonyoung, he’s more likely to arouse suspicion.

As he walks to the ship’s dining hall, he passes Mingyu. He really takes well to the whole vacationing thing, and Jeonghan wouldn’t be able to tell that he was once a multibillionaire by the way he dresses if not for how handsome he was no matter what ill-fitting clothes he decided to wear each day. Beside him is Minghao, who is is infinitely better dressed. He looks away from Mingyu instantly to stare at Jeonghan.

Minghao is someone with money that knows how to discern between goods, who’s picky about quality and taste. Someone not born into it, but someone that clawed himself out of a hellhole and found himself in the right place at the right time. Jeonghan doesn’t like his stare. Even if he _can_ swipe something from their suite out of spite, he gets the sense Minghao would know who was behind it immediately.

Mingyu talks for a few seconds before he realizes Minghao’s looking elsewhere. He turns to see Jeonghan, and his entire face lights up. Jeonghan smiles. Genuinely smiles, because he thinks it’s adorable in a really funny sort of way, but Jeonghan’s been told his amused smile is just a little bit evil. “Morning, Jeonghan! No Soonyoung with you?”

“Morning,” he says wearily. “No, he was sick all night again. I’m getting food for us.”

Mingyu pouts. Honest to god _pouts_ , like he’s concerned about this stranger he’s barely known for a day or two. “That’s a shame. Do you want us to tell the others to stay back and wait for you two before we go exploring?”

The entire time, Minghao doesn’t take his eyes off Jeonghan, like his good faith from their icebreakers has long since run out. Jeonghan shakes his head. “We’re only in Wakayama for a day. You guys enjoy what you can. What are you and the others planning?” he asks as he picks up a few muffins from the all-you-can eat. Might as well gather information on everyone’s schedules. “There’s so much, and Soonyoung and I’s time is limited now.”

Mingyu takes out a pamphlet from one of his jean pockets and starts explaining; Jeonghan munches on a muffin as he leans closer and nods, offering what he thinks Soonyoung would like. He gets a _little_ into it, but not enough to forget his true intention.

“You guys still have enough to see even without a full day, like us. And you can meet Group S at that restaurant I mentioned at the end of the night for dinner,” Mingyu says, passing Jeonghan the pamphlet. He’s sure he has a ton more where that came from.

He waves at the two of them as he heads back to the cabin suite. In contrast to Mingyu’s full arm wave, Minghao barely raises his hand, staring all the while at Jeonghan’s retreat.

* * *

Before they explore Wakayama, they make a plan.

The main problem is that the suites are accessible only by keycard. Spare copies are held somewhere at the front desk and can be obtained with identification and a small fee, but the front is manned 24-7 and in plain sight, and it’s laughable to think there wouldn’t be security cameras there. Their options are: One, spend extra time breaking in through the suite’s entrance, standing out in plain sight in the wide, open hallway protected by security cameras.

Two, crawl across the balconies and risk falling into the ocean. It’s hardly the more reasonable option, but it’s the one Jeonghan picks.

Then, the next problem that arises is that in order to get to Seungcheol and Joshua’s balcony, they have to cross Mingyu and Minghao’s balcony. Mingyu drags Minghao out when he can, but they have an understanding of each other’s energy levels. It’s been twice already that Jeonghan’s left to wander the cruise ship late at night to do reconnaissance under the guise of getting more remedies for Soonyoung’s seasickness, and as he’s come back to his own suite, Minghao is coming out of his and Mingyu’s.

The only saving grace is that there are no security cameras inside the rooms themselves and none on the outside of the ship pointed directly into a suite.

Once they hash out all the problems, they get to the actual worst part: Soonyoung can’t join him because the risk of him leaving evidence (vomiting) is too great.

“We can just relax,” Soonyoung says. Even though he’s dressed for the day, he still looks a little shaky. It’d be good to get him onto solid ground, Jeonghan thinks.

“As if. I’m not watching you get sick only to come out empty-handed.”

“We’re not, though. Empty-handed.” With a weak grin, Soonyoung lifts his left hand and wiggles his fingers, the wedding ring shining in the late morning light coming through the window. “We can just treat it like a normal vacation.”

“No,” Jeonghan says. “I’m not losing to an overgrown puppy and his guard cat.”

Soonyoung raises an eyebrow. “Oh, is Minghao going to steal from Seungcheol and Joshua too?”

“Is he _what_?” Jeonghan can’t be that blind. He can’t have missed something so obvious.

“He just stares at you like you’re going to steal something from under his nose at any moment.” Soonyoung shrugs. “The way you worded it made it sound like you found something out about him. He just looked like the type is all. Gold digger, except he actually loves Mingyu, so he’s digging elsewhere while Mingyu takes him for a ride.”

Jeonghan stares at him for a second. “I’ll go do more research on that, then,” he says with a frown. He’s got a point, as scattered as his explanation felt.

On the way out of the cruise ship, Soonyoung suddenly grabs his hand and starts dragging him somewhere. “Soonyoung, explain—”

“There’s nothing to explain,” Soonyoung says in a rush, dragging them into a souvenir shop and beelining for a tiger plushie. “I want this first. Do your research later.”

Jeonghan sighs and gives in with a smile.

* * *

After that is two days in Yokohama, and they _actually_ socialize with Group S this time. Mostly because Soonyoung doesn’t look like he’s going to keel over any time soon and can walk around like they did at Jeju and, briefly, Wakayama. It was Soonyoung’s idea to socialize, because he went to breakfast with Jeonghan that morning and Minghao gave Jeonghan the stink-eye and Soonyoung decided it was time to make them look less suspicious.

Their first day in Metropolis Tokyo is eventful enough for Jeonghan to forget for _just_ a moment what he’s doing. Soonyoung’s never traveled, and as much as the ship makes him sick, the actual cities where they touch down is full of places for him to explore and test his rudimentary Japanese. The bright lights and the city skyline isn’t Jeonghan’s idea of a vacation—he’d much rather be somewhere quieter where he won’t get a headache—but they’ve got all their lives after this cruise for a quiet vacation.

They have dinner at an outdoor restaurant, but there’s a surprising amount of bugs still floating around, and they love preying on Jeonghan and Soonyoung more than anyone else. Jeonghan slaps a mosquito near his ankle—when he looks up beside him, Minghao is staring at him, his eyes widening like he’s come to some sort of realization.

“Minghao? Is there a problem?” he asks, quietly enough that no one else at the table can hear with the chaos that is everyone else. It’s a dare of sorts—if Minghao’s going to insinuate that Jeonghan’s gotten that anklet illegally, he’s got another thing coming. If Soonyoung’s right about his suspicions of Minghao planning his own secret heist under their noses, he’ll never hear the end of it.

“Nothing,” Minghao murmurs back just as the food comes out. “Nothing, Angel.”

That alias is nowhere on his person, least of all that anklet. Eissa got it with their real names so they could actually wear them in public.

If _anyone_ heard that, it would raise some serious questions about why Minghao’s suddenly using a flirty nickname for someone he’d been glaring at for the better part of this trip. But Jeonghan keeps his expression cordial as he raises his hand for his order and smiles. “If anything’s wrong, you can tell me, Eissa,” he says back under his breath.

* * *

He tells Soonyoung about Minghao, and Soonyoung jumps up from the bed. “I _knew_ it!” he screams.

“Sit down,” he says, but he laughs as he says it, which makes Soonyoung even more animated.

“No, it’s great—we can talk to him, and then he can sneak us out between balconies and minimize the risk of you dying so you can sit down and _relax_ ,” Soonyoung says in a single breath, like that’s the real prize all along and not whatever the hell Joshua’s been parading around since the start of the vacation.

“Alright, fine, but we’re going to need to find an excuse—”

“I’ve been talking with Mingyu all day, I’ll find something,” he says, jumping up. Before Jeonghan can protest, he grabs his hand and the keycard and drags them next door, bathrobe and fuzzy slippers and all.

He’d really underestimated how close Soonyoung and Mingyu got in just a day; they have a rapid-fire conversation about some meal, something or another, before they run off with barely a warning to the other two.

After a second, Minghao looks at him and invites him in.

Their suite is identical in layout but not in cleanliness. Someone here is neater than him and Soonyoung are combined, and it makes walking over to the sofa beside Minghao’s armchair easier.

Jeonghan carefully crosses his leg over the other, the anklet catching the light. “Shame you couldn’t make it to the wedding, Eissa,” he says lightly. “But I guess we can still celebrate after all.”

“I don’t want my underground life anywhere near Mingyu, _Angel_.” He starts pouring two glasses of wine. “Whatever you’re doing, please leave me out of it unless it’s through our usual channels.”

He understands that much—but there’s something that’s nagging at him, something that doesn’t seem to fit. “Great ploy to marry someone that loves you enough to liquidize all his assets at your command,” Jeonghan teases. “I’m sure Robin Hood never thought of that one.”

He doesn’t expect Eissa’s glare to sharpen. If he could slam the glass of wine down onto the table without breaking or spilling its contents, Jeonghan’s sure he would. The way he glares as he delicately lowers the glass in front of Jeonghan carries the same weight, anyway. “Great ploy to marry someone that’ll do your every bidding both in heists and in the bedroom.”

Jeonghan’s responding smile is strained, picking the glass up with light fingers. He stares Eissa down, trying to figure out his angle. He breathes air out through his nose, like—like a bull that’s been provoked. He takes a deep breath. The next time he expels it, it’s by laughing. “Point taken.”

Eissa’s face softens, ever so slightly. He raises his own glass. A gesture of peace. “I’m not one to shy away from the finer things in life,” he says, which Jeonghan gets—Eissa _is_ on the receiving end of the things he and Soonyoung steal, after all. He’s got a discerning eye. “However, obscene excess is a different story.”

He muffles his next words into his glass, probably hoping to hide them: “Mingyu’s better than that,” he says. “All that without knowing where to put it.” Then, he puts his glass down and coughs lightly. “What are you looking suspicious for, anyway? I know everyone here’s a potential target, but I didn’t expect our reliable Angel to be so obvious.”

“What do you mean, ‘looking suspicious’?” Jeonghan turns his nose up at that, but he’s feeling a friendly sort of irritation. He _has_ been in contact with Eissa for years now. “I look fine. Like a perfect newlywed.”

“You do,” Eissa says. “But only when Hoshi’s with you.”

Jeonghan rolls his eyes. “We were going to steal from Mister Two-Point-Three-Billion-Net-Worth, which is _why_ we picked this cruise, but you know how that turned out.”

Eissa smirks. Jeonghan knows he’ll be seeing that smirk forever paired with those perfectly snarky messages from over the years. It fits so well. “Maybe it’s a sign. Maybe you should just enjoy it here. You and Hoshi have been consistently giving Dark Side business for years now. A week won’t hurt.”

It’s logical, but Jeonghan can’t help but press on at this point. Something must come through in his expression, because Eissa raises an eyebrow at him. “I thought at first Hoshi was the one that was whipped. I didn’t expect it to be the other way around.”

“What gave you that impression?” He’s a little too quick on the draw there. He’s always a bit quick when it comes to something against Soonyoung, he realizes.

“I like keeping the fine things in life when they are offered to me.” Eissa takes a sip for dramatic effect. “You like taking them to give to those you love instead.”

Jeonghan scrunches his nose up again. “Anyway,” he says pointedly. “With Mingyu out of the picture, we’ve been watching Seungcheol and Joshua.”

He lets that statement sink in. He watches Eissa switch gears into business mode as he recalls everything Joshua’s worn during the cruise. Maybe he wasn’t doing it consciously, but for people like them, cataloging things of great value is second nature. All it takes to remember is giving it dedicated brain power.

Eissa’s smirk turns into a full-out grin. “I see. Close proximity, Hoshi’s got both of their guards down, _and_ Joshua’s unabashed about whatever Seungcheol gifts him.”

“What happened to keeping shady business out of your vacation with Mingyu?”

“Your husband took care of that much.” Eissa waves a delicate hand, his eyes sparkling with amusement. “What’s the catch, then?”

“Your balcony’s in between theirs and ours. Turn a blind eye for us will you, Eissa, my dear?”

“Is that why they call you Angel? All you do is sweet talk.” He shakes his head and sighs. “You’re going to break in through the balconies?”

“We know you’re here every night to recharge while Mingyu skips around the ship, it was the last kink in the plan we had to figure out.”

Eissa sighs. “Tell me when so I can leave instead. I don’t even want to _think_ I’ve seen you. But I’ll let you have it just this once.”

“Reasonable doubt.”

Jeonghan nods at him, but Eissa looks away, chewing on his next words. “I was going to send a message to you and Hoshi about a week after this cruise. I’m taking a year-long break from appraisal. Legal _and_ illegal.”

It seemed like it was going that way, even though their time on the cruise was the first he’d heard of Eissa’s life story at all. He’s not that surprised. “Are you ever going to tell him? Mingyu.”

Eissa takes a second to respond. “That’s what I’m spending the year to think about. I don’t know how you and Soonyoung do it.” That’s that. He calls Hoshi _Soonyoung_ , Jeonghan by name as he continues forward, and Jeonghan follows suit.

Mingyu and Soonyoung walk in an hour later. Jeonghan checks his watch; only a few minutes off schedule, but it feels more natural this way. Soonyoung is thankfully sober, but he can’t say the same for Mingyu, who’s grinning and has a piece of rice stuck in his awful denim-on-denim ensemble that Jeonghan’s seen at least twice this cruise already, although he _knows_ this is a different set of clothes.

Minghao starts reprimanding him quietly in Mandarin, brushing off bits of food, and Jeonghan sees the genuine affection underneath. “We’ll head off then,” he says, standing up and putting an arm around Soonyoung’s waist. “I’m glad we cleared things up between us.”

“Me too,” Mingyu says before Minghao can respond. He flops onto the sofa where Jeonghan just was, long legs dangling over the armrest. “It was just a misunderstanding?”

“Just a misunderstanding,” Minghao says. He glances up at Jeonghan with a sparkle in his eye. “We’re thick as thieves now.”

* * *

The last piece is, of course, Seungcheol and Joshua themselves.

Soonyoung’s been doing well getting close to everyone in their little group. When Jeonghan isn’t trying to figure out the best time to _steal_ from two of them, he’s surprised to find that the group is pretty open to him, too. The second night in Yokohama, under lanterns and maybe a bit too many rounds of sake, Seungkwan admits to the entire group (as Hansol watches in horror) that he was a bit wary of Jeonghan at first because of Minghao’s open scrutiny.

“Then I asked Minghao, and Minghao said there was nothing wrong, he just has resting bitch face—”

“I am”—Hansol puts a hand over Seungkwan’s mouth—“so sorry, Jeonghan-ssi.”

He laughs it off, but later that night, he tells Soonyoung he’s going to steal from Seungkwan out of spite. Soonyoung tells him to go for it, like he always does—except he also adds on a _take something they won’t miss_.

“That’s the point,” Jeonghan says, but he already knows Soonyoung means something different.

“I know. But Seungkwan and Hansol really _did_ save money to go on a cruise. Just… take a tangerine or something. Seungkwan’s tried to hand them out to me at least twice a day.”

Jeonghan’s about to question it more, but he’s not even sure if Soonyoung knows that he’s making _that_ face again, the one that’s bordering on naive if it didn’t have so much empathy. “Fine,” he says. “I’ll limit it to a perishable.”

There are two potential times for this heist. The best one is tonight after they depart from Yokohama and before the sun rises on a full day of sailing. Minghao tells them that he and Mingyu are going to the ship’s theater tonight to watch a show and gives them a pamphlet right under Mingyu’s nose with the times circled and a knowing _you should come_.

Tonight would be best—but Soonyoung passed out _cold_ midsentence while Jeonghan was going over the potential timing the second they got back from Yokohama, having drank too much with the others at the izakaya. No matter. The other ideal time is two days from now, after they depart from Niigata. He still thinks he might try tonight, anyway; he’ll have to listen to both the door and the safe provided in each room as he cracks its combination, but he’d rather Soonyoung rest tonight than try to risk it.

The ship sets sail, and Jeonghan dims the lights for Soonyoung to sleep before he goes to wander the deck.

* * *

It’s easy to blend in when there are so many people. The problems are the few people he’s come to recognize. He means to find a quiet place to blend in so he can look for Joshua and Seungcheol in peace, but when he finds it, he breathes a sigh of relief, because they apparently had the same idea.

Joshua’s on the uppermost deck, leaning against one of the railings. Not far behind is Seungcheol, jogging over to him with a grin.

“Good timing, I was about to grab snacks for us,” he says, jabbing a thumb back at Joshua. “You want one for you and… huh. No Soonyoung?”

“Preparing for the sailing ahead.” Jeonghan laughs. “He told me to go enjoy myself because he didn’t want to be miserable around me and wouldn’t lie down until I did, so I’ll be out here for at least a few minutes.”

Seungcheol grins. “You can stay longer than that, don’t be awkward when Soonyoung isn’t around. Keep Shua company until I come back with food,” he says, jogging past him and leaving him there.

This would actually be a great time for him to turn around and go back to the suite and get started, but Jeonghan can practically hear Soongyoung reprimanding him, saying it would be suspicious if Seungcheol saw him but Joshua didn’t, so he grits his teeth and prepares to socialize.

He can have some fun with it, at least. He sneaks up right beside Joshua and clears his throat. Joshua jumps ten feet in the air before clutching his chest and looking at him. “Jeonghan, what the hell,” he mutters. “You’re the last person I expected here.”

“What, I’m not allowed to socialize? To _mingle_?”

Joshua makes a face. “I mean—you can, but this is the first time I’ve seen you without Soonyoung. You’re with him or you’re not anywhere at all, unless it’s to find something to take care of him with.”

“Is that a problem?”

“No.” Joshua smiles. “It’s cute.”

Jeonghan weighs his options before he says the most honest thing he’s said to any of the strangers here. At Joshua’s raised eyebrow, he can’t help but smile. He can allow this much. “We don’t seem like a match, but there’s no one I’d rather have by my side.”

“Cheol’s the same way for me,” Joshua says after a short silence, nodding. “I think I understand. We’ve known each other since we were kids. I don’t know what I’d do without him.”

 _Have a few less pieces of jewelry,_ Jeonghan thinks, _although you’re about to be a few less anyway, with or without him._ Either way, Soonyoung was right. Jeonghan had assumed that it was a trophy marriage at first, some relative nobody with an up-and-coming musician with a sizable fanbase, but what he’s seen of them over the past few days is the complete opposite. They’re _embarrassingly_ in love.

Jeonghan should’ve known all along. Despite the way Joshua effortlessly flaunts gifts of expensive jewelry, there’s one thing he holds more dear than anything else hidden under all the glamor.

Under the saltwater and the glittering lights of Yokohama’s port fading away, Joshua plays with the silver ring on his left hand, as if he doesn’t realize he’s doing it at all. “Don’t tell him that, though. Then he jokes about me settling down with some boring businessman out of _love._ ” His laugh is light and airy.

“Ah, I can’t relate here. I am Seungcheol in this situation. I _have_ to tell him.”

“I thought you might say that.” Joshua smiles anyway and shifts the topic, ever so slightly. “You and Soonyoung seem so different. How did you two meet?”

They’ve practiced answers for this. Soonyoung is awful at lying and keeping stories straight, so they have a half-truth, half-lie. The half that’s the truth: “We met in college. We were roommates once and then we never stopped.” The half that’s a lie: “Just a standard, boring story.”

Joshua looks at him for a beat too long. He’s still soft around the edges from talking about Seungcheol, but there’s clarity in how he scrutinizes Jeonghan. “With you two, it’s hard to believe it’d be boring. It seems like there’s always something going on.”

“Not entirely wrong,” Jeonghan says, putting his chin in his palm. “But we’re allowed to have our secrets.”

“I’m sure. Thank God we’ve got a suite between our rooms. You seem like the type to have loud sex just because you can.”

This time, Jeonghan actually _does_ tip his head back and laugh heartily, because he’s not entirely wrong about that.

* * *

Seungcheol comes back balancing two trays of snacks. Jeonghan stays to chat a little more, but as the ship reaches its maximum speed, he takes one last bite and says he’ll go check up on Soonyoung again.

“Don’t be a stranger,” Seungcheol says. They’re glued at the hip at this point, Joshua’s eyes bright as he leans back on him, despite being taller. It’s a bit sickening how cute it is. “If Soonyoung’s up to it, tell him to meet us in the casino. We’ll be there for a few hours, and we’ve still got a rematch to make up for him kicking my ass earlier today.”

“Will do,” Jeonghan says. “But if he takes his loss badly by vomiting on you, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

He strolls back to his room, but he’s burning with energy; all he wants to do is get his gear and _go_ already. He bursts into his suite, but Soonyoung is fast asleep.

Jeonghan hasn’t done a heist alone since they started doing them together, and he already feels the loss as he dresses into his gear, making sure all of his tools are in place and that his bag won’t weigh him down as he shuffles between balconies. Soonyoung’s great at being patient, finding places to hide, keeping an eye out while Jeonghan does most of the dirty work. He doesn’t know how to go back to being alone like this.

Dressed from head to toe in black, he opens the sliding door. The smell of the sea immediately rushes in, salty and strong and in perpetual movement. Behind him, Soonyoung stirs. His soft snores have stopped. “Hannie?”

“I’ve got a few hours to do this. Leave it to me.”

He looks at the balcony. There’s opaque barriers between their suite and the ones beside them. He’ll have to dangle off the side and hope to god that no one’s lights are on so they can’t see the moving shadow in the backdrop of the night, against the sea—

Suddenly, there’s a pair of arms around his waist and a soft pair of lips against his cheek. Soonyoung yawns and shuffles back to bed before he can even register the action. “Stay safe,” he says, muffled into the pillow.

Jeonghan looks back at him for a second more before he closes the balcony door behind him and starts on not falling the fuck off this ship.

The wind sailing past the ship stings at his face as he gently lowers himself over the side of the railing where no rational thinking human being should be going. There are sounds of celebration all around, but they’re all far enough that he doesn’t concern himself with it. His shuffle is slow, keeping his grip careful as he moves across the balcony, making sure his feet don’t end up dangling where the suites below can see. He should’ve asked Minghao for one of his keycards, because he barely makes it one balcony before he’s about to keel over from the exertion, but then he thinks about coming back empty-handed to Soonyoung and keeps going.

( _We’re not, though. Empty-handed,_ the Soonyoung in his head reminds him. And Jeonghan _knows_ that. He knows that Soonyoung would much rather have him alive in bed next to him than as a drowned corpse beyond saving. But he’s already come this far. He has his own ways of showing appreciation.)

Jeonghan takes a second to catch his breath when he rolls as gently as he can onto Seungcheol and Joshua’s balcony before bringing himself back up. Soonyoung’s the more athletic one between the two of them, and he’s never felt it more obviously than now.

The curtains have been drawn, but there’s no light or sound behind the glass. It’s easy to pick the lock for the sliding door, and when he steps through, he holds his breath.

He turns on his flashlight and thinks for a second that his _eyes_ are broken instead. This room is even messier than his and Soonyoung’s. Clothing is strewn about everywhere, and there isn’t so much a _pile_ of worn clothes as there is an _entire half of the room_ that Jeonghan recognizes as old outfits from the past few days.

There’s other things, too, but Jeonghan’s surprised to find that there _is_ order in this room for the things that matter. On one of the dressers, there’s a small basket that once held complementary toiletries. It’s now empty, those bottles surely haphazardly thrown somewhere, but there’s a clear order in its current contents: ticket stubs, receipts, some polaroids from Seungcheol’s disposable camera with dates and comments. There’s even one of all the couples from Group S that they got some other tourist to take for them with someone’s small, squished handwriting labeling each person underneath. Topping it all off is a seashell necklace, one that Joshua’s apparently made himself. He knows this is a third one, because Seungcheol and Joshua have been wearing theirs nonstop since Jeju.

Jeonghan leaves that untouched. As stupid as Joshua and Seungcheol are about flaunting their wealth and status, they’re horrifically sincere about every facet of their life.

They still made Jeonghan’s work hard for him, though. The sentimentality doesn’t change the fact that there’s shit _everywhere_ , and he gently rustles through old clothing with gloved hands to look for jewelry. He actually _finds_ a few pricey things. Unbelievable.

It’s been just under an hour since he last saw them, and “a few hours” at the casino could end at any moment. With more than a few prizes stowed into his bag, he shines his flashlight into the closet that holds the safe.

His jaw _drops_.

The safe is _open_. It’s wide open and still has actual valuables in them. “You’re both suckers,” he says, unable to keep the glee out of his voice as he rifles through and takes everything he can.

When Jeonghan was little and couldn’t finish his meals, he learned how to cut up the remaining food on his plate and scatter it around so it looked like he’d eaten more than he actually had. It’s the same principle here; if there’s no personal engraving, it’s free game.

Besides—he thinks back to the little basket of their knickknacks from their trips here and decides that they’ve got enough love between them to not notice a few things missing. Jeonghan will take what he steals to Eissa, who’ll appraise it, then spend his commission money somewhere between a nice bottle of wine and donating to Mingyu’s charity of choice. Seungcheol and Joshua will lament their clumsiness before moving on with their lives.

He triple-checks that he hasn’t left any evidence behind, and then he’s gone to the night again. (Seungkwan and his items are safe this time. If he has to climb one more damn balcony than he has to, he’ll lose it.)

* * *

When they land in Busan, it’s with heavier suitcases from Soonyoung’s souvenir obsession and Jeonghan’s successful heist. Those in Group S recognize his brighter mood, but it’s easy to pass it off when Soonyoung actually stops getting seasick long enough for them to wander the ship and run into the other couples.

If Joshua and Seungcheol noticed anything missing, they sure don’t show it. Joshua’s got one less earring in (which Jeonghan knows is safely in his own suitcase), and Seungcheol’s pretty little watch has been replaced with a cheap one from their stop in Niigata, but if anything, they seem happier.

It feels like a long trek back to the parking garage, especially since they _still_ have to drive back home—but nothing feels quite so difficult with Soonyoung around. “So,” Soonyoung says as Jeonghan starts the car. “I think that’s the first time we’ve made friends with targets.”

“And it’s not going to be a habit,” Jeonghan says. “Are you actually gonna keep in contact with them?”

Soonyoung shrugs. “I mean, why not? It wouldn’t hurt for us to have more friends. Even if they’d probably make enemies out of us if they ever find out.”

“Then we just won’t let them find out,” Jeonghan says. “And if Seungcheol and Joshua have their own fancy apartment, we just steal from the apartments around them.”

For a second, the only sound in the car is the turn indicator blinking. When he looks over to Soonyoung, he’s grinning too wide for it to mean anything good. “Not from _them_? The apartments _around_ them?”

Jeonghan has his own little basket. It’s a small plastic container he keeps in one of his drawers, filled with the same thing as Seungcheol and Joshua’s: physical reminders with no monetary value. It would be the first to burn up in a fire, all papers and pictures that are flammable. But as devastating as it would be to lose all of those little physical memories of their time together, it would be worse to never see the reason he kept those things in the first place.

He glances at Soonyoung again. That smile might be a little too cheeky, but it’s a smile all the same, the one with the power to put a similar one on Jeonghan’s face. Jeonghan knows what it’s like for some things to be well and truly sacred, and if Soonyoung genuinely enjoyed their company on their little honeymoon, then who is he to do anything to ruin that?

They’ve got a long line of heists to come for the rest of their lives together. This is just the start. “It’s not like they have much left to steal after _that_ cruise, anyway,” Jeonghan says, grinning as the watch he stole from Seungcheol shines around his wrist in the afternoon sun.

**Author's Note:**

> (the sequel is soonhan accidentally moving next door to verkwan and they babysit bookkeu and jeonghan also steals seungkwan's fancy set of wine glasses out of spite for thinking he was a shady character. that'll show him)


End file.
